Ka'ena Point, O'ahu, Hawaii

 

 

After a couple of pleasurable days on Big Island we returned to O'ahu, to stay in Honolulu. Honolulu is very much a concrete jungle with little trees or parks and there is little to recommend it for birders within the city. Despite the oppressive feeling of urbanisation, it doesn't take much to time to get out of the city and to emerge into greenery, to finally leave all those tower blocks behind you.
Despite taking the brunt of the savages by man, O'ahu being the main settled island, there are still places that are good for birds on the island, places a bit more remote and harder to reach.

 

In our time second time on the island, one place I wanted to see was Ka'ena Point. This is a headland in western O'ahu, famous for its seabirds, such as albatrosses that nest on its point. Unfortunately the holiday coincided with the off season and there weren't  any seabirds present at the time we visited. However its a beautiful landscape with a nice walk, and was worth seeing despite the quietness. The place is known as a 'leaping place of souls' by the Hawaiians, and is very much a dynamic landscape of varying habitats.

Rather strange piece of urban art on the only building on the point

 

From the car park the walk was a three mile trek, across the best preserved dune system on the island, between the hills and the sea. There weren't too many people about, some off roaders in their 4x4s, that was about it, people in America don't seem to like walking much. The Point had an air of peacefulness to it, somewhere beyond the tourist trail.

 

 

 

The extreme tip of the point is protected by a predator-proof fence to protect the seabirds, with gates to let you enter. Its a great sight, one that brightens the soul, knowing that someone's caring about the wildlife for once.
As I mentioned earlier, there weren't any seabirds, they start arriving in December, so everything was a bit quiet. Of interest was an ERCKEL'S FRANCOLIN (E. Africa), like a partridge, but was huge, the size of a turkey, and it had some chicks in tow.

 HAWAIIAN MONK SEAL in the centre of the pool

 

The star of the day was an HAWAIIAN MONK SEAL. It was loafing in a pool almost separate from the sea. There it submerged for a while as a black shape, similar to a rock before rising up above the water for air. It was a great find, this animal is very rare, as there are only around a thousand alive on the planet. This makes it rarer than the giant panda, and further more there are only approximately twenty on O'ahu, as they tend to favour the less inhabited places in the more quieter islands. Unfortunately the species is in downfall, and the population is rapidly declining. It seems some animals just cannot live with mankind, those species having a population suicide in a way. Its such a shame and there is very little we can do about it.

This was the last day in which I went bird watching in Hawaii. If you have read my previous blogs you can see I saw a lot on these islands in the time I had here. I would thoroughly recommend a visit to the islands, whether for birds or to see the culture and other things. If you are coming here to look for birds, get a local to guide you to the best places, and go in season, it really helps!